What’s the best about summertime?
The longer hours of sun?
Fresh fruit and vegetables in abundance?
All the great holiday barbecues?
Being able to have great pool parties?
Farmer’s Markets?
Yes, all of these are A-mazing!
What’s also amazing is the ability to get into whatever exercise or active shenanigans you want!
Some of my friends and patients ask me what are the best summertime exercise activities. The answer is that it depends on your interests. I think the key to success in staying active is to pick things you enjoy doing. Whether it’s dancing in your underwear to music in your bedroom or just simply going for a run on your favorite trail or path. The key is to find things you look forward to doing.
Some of the best options for scorching calories and fat are running, dancing, skating, playing basketball/soccer/ultimate frisbee, etc. It’s important to incorporate intervals into these activities which means doing bursts where you are pushing yourself cardiovascularly to your max.
Obviously, it’s important to clear all new exercise by your doctor to make sure you are safe to do them but if you’ve got the go ahead, pushing yourself to the point where you are dripping sweat is a good way to get to your goal body.
Another common question is whether to exercise before you eat or to eat first then exercise. The answer to that is…it depends.
If you plan on strenuous extensive exercise, you need to eat an hour or two before the workout so as not to burn yourself out. If you plan on working out for 30 minutes and you have no issues with diabetes or other health issues, you might be able to do moderate exercise before eating and burn more glycogen stores in your cells so as to get slim.
The most important thing to do is to clear all your ideas by your doctor first. I can’t say enough about making safety a priority. Also, the UV index isn’t just a thing you hear about. Heat strokes are a real thing and sun damage is a real thing.
So, while the summer is a great time to get out there and have some fun and get closer to your goal body weight…you must also keep safety in mind so that you can continue the fun activities (however modified) long into the winter months.
